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Maine Potato Board: Crop Looks Healthy

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Officials with the Maine Potato Board said Monday that weeks of heat and sunshine in July have done wonders for this year’s potato growing season.

Don Flannery, executive director of the board, said that this year’s crop is looking wonderful so far.

“We did get the crop in a little later than normal,” he said. “I don’t know if there was a reason for it, but with the heat and sun we’ve had this month and the recent rain and the rain we’re supposed to see this week, we should get caught up.”

According to Flannery, despite some parts of AroostookCounty and the state receiving up to 4 inches of rain when Hurricane Arthur moved through the state over Independence Day, growers did not see substantial damage to their fields or crops. There also have not been any serious reports of late blight, other crop diseases or damage from pests.

With the use of drones, tractor-mounted sensors and software, Raptor Maps has created an affordable system for growers that allows them to precisely map, analyze and measure the quality of crops at critical times during the growing season.

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